


Term of Endearment

by SilverCherie



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because I refuse to let Erik go, Cousin Incest, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 16:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14264784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverCherie/pseuds/SilverCherie
Summary: “That's not my name, Princess.”ORAs time goes by, the term princess becomes something different for both of them.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well this is it. I've been writing and deleting over the past month and decided that at least the prologue is good enough to post. I would love any and all feedback on this prologue/this story!
> 
> Thanks to my co-owner of my account, the Silver to my Cherie, for encouraging me and beta reading this as well! <3 <3
> 
> And thank you for the other writers of the wonderful ship!!!
> 
> With that said, enjoy! :)

 

 

“That's not my name, _Princess._ ”

The first time he called her that, she was taken aback.

 

That word echoed like a taunt, to mock who she was. To mock her intelligence.

  
She’d never been addressed that way—not in that tone at least. This...Killmonger threw a patronizing look in her direction that said ‘You don’t know who I really am or what I am capable of. And you _never_ will.’

  
She didn't like that. A retort was on the tip of her tongue, to fight the venom from his words with her own.

But he beat her to it, with even more fire in his tone and an unwavering determination to burn everything in his path. Though his accent was American, his words and expression were so sharp and feral, they could have pierced through the vibranium that clothed her.

  
“I am N’jadaka, son of Prince N’jobu!” The taunt earlier in his voice had disappeared. His lips curled into a snarl, his teeth bare. As if he’d dared anyone to deny his truth. His eyes were now void of anything other than insatiable rage.

 

_What? Her uncle, or at least the stories she’d heard about him, disappeared years ago. To never be seen or heard from again. He couldn’t be telling the truth._

_But as much as she attempted to convince herself that this man—Killmonger or Stevens or whoever he was—was lying, his steely eyes held no pretense. His expression was unwavering as he accused the late king, her father, of cold-blooded murder. Each word he hurled towards her brother, her family, and their legacy was a voracious assault on her, with no end in sight. As if she was backed into a corner, defenseless._

And as quickly as the offense began, it ended. The cold determination returned to his eyes, masking the fury beneath it.  

“I want the throne.”  

 

_Well, fuck._

* * *

 

It was a desperate and foolish attempt on her part to try to take on Killmonger by herself.

  
He towered over her as she scrambled to put a distance between them. He smirked as he came closer with a sonic spear in one hand aimed at her heart. And he still had to have the final say.

  
“What's up, _Princess_?”

  
And she hated it. She hated him, for almost killing her brother, for taking her home, for calling her _that_ like that's all she was. A familiar fire began to erupt within her, an urge to go down guns ablazing.

_Fine._

If she was meant to die, she wanted to leave him marked; to scorch him with her rage before she left this world.

  
“You will never be a _**true**_ king.”

  
And there it was. Something flickered in his eyes—a pain. As if she'd burned him.

  
T’challa lunged just in time to save her and she could only watch helplessly as he and Killmonger continued their challenge in the mines.

  
She prayed that whatever she had said had hurt Killmonger enough. Enough for T’challa to gain the upper hand.

  
What she didn't expect was her brother to land a fatal blow. Nor for Killmonger to choose death when given the chance to live.

 

And the even bigger twist? T’challa still saved him anyway.

  
  



	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys. Damn. Like Holy Shit. 
> 
> Y'all know how to encourage a girl. Whether it's here or on tumblr, I've been receiving so much support on this its amazing!
> 
> I just hope I can do it justice. And with that, here's the next part :)
> 
> Thank you to my one and only Silver! <3 <3

The light blinded him when he finally opened his eyes. Offbeat noises and sounds came from all directions as he sat up from his hover bed.  

 

A metal arc hung over him. On it, projections of charts, graphs and other statistics continued to flash. He turned to his right. He could see streaks of blue light zooming back and forth among mounds that seemed to go on for miles on end.

_This couldn’t be heaven._

  
He knew for a fact he wouldn't have made it there. He had too much blood on his hands.

 

It wasn't the ancestral plane where he'd seen his pop in their apartment back in Oakland; it felt too real to be anything like home.

 

But this place looked familiar. He'd been here before, tinkering over a necklace with a built in suit like the one his cousin had.

 

The last thing he remembered was the sun setting on Wakanda.  And the pain of removing the knife from his chest as he chose to die. A darkness began to take over as he fell over, losing control of his limbs.

  
And then, his vision went blank. He was dead.

  
But the steady beat of his heart told him otherwise.

  


The rage came back as he gritted his teeth. Even in death, his choice didn't matter.

  


His heart raced and began to constrict—something was wrong. As if something inside him was eating him alive. The offset beeps grew louder –as if to alert someone that something was wrong.

  
The sound of footsteps could be heard at a distance, but quickly grew closer. Erik turned to see Shuri, as she caught her breath from rushing over to him.

  


A simple “You're awake” was all she could muster.

  
She began to move closer to him, but decided against it. His face had contorted to an expression she was all too familiar with. He was ready to attack without any restraint.

  


“What the  _fuck_  did you do to me?”

  


She held her hands in front her in an attempt to lessen the tension.

  


“You need to breathe; the damage will worsen if you don't calm down.”

  
He clenched at his chest with one hand, the pain unbearable.

  
Shuri stepped closer and leaned over in order to lay him back down. Instinctively, he grabbed her wrists with his spare one before she could touch him. A moment of silent tension passed as he glared at her.

  


“I asked,” he grunted between gritted teeth, “to die.”

  
Shuri gulped, unsure of what to say.

* * *

 

“ _Why did you save him, Brother? If it were you, he would have killed you without hesitation! Again!”_

  
_T’challa didn't respond. He had not spoken since he carried Killmonger back to her lab after using his kimoyo beads to stabilize the wound._

  
_He only looked out to the mines, watching the magnetic trains zoom back and forth._

 

“ _The vibranium from the spear is in its raw form. Soon it will spread and kill him. We need to remove it quickly.”_

  
“ _T’challa! This man—”_

  
_He cut her off, “I will hear no argument over this, Shuri!”_

  
_She could only grit her teeth. Wasn't it Killmonger who threw her brother off a cliff with the intent to murder? Wasn't it he who tried to kill her and would have succeeded if it weren't for her brother? How could T’challa forget that?_

  
_She clenched her fists, wanting to refuse. But he was her king first and foremost._

  
“ _Fine. I'll do it. But at least tell me why.”_

 

“ _We will not abandon him like the rest of the world has.”_

* * *

 

Killmonger's grip only tightened around her hands, making her wince.

  
She struggled to break free of his death grip; her wrists begun to bruise under his callused hands.

  
“Let go!”

  
“I asked to  _die._ I chose to take the blade out, and you still—”

  
“Believe me, I wish you did!”

 

The words flew out of her mouth before she'd realized they left.

  
Her response must have shocked him too; his grip loosened, and she pried her hands free, massaging the pain away. 

 

Guilt immediately washed over her— he was her patient now despite their prior adversarial encounters.  


“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say—”

  
He groaned as he clutched his chest even more at the site of his wound. Sensing he was too preoccupied with the pain, she took the chance to lay him down again.

 

“You must relax. There is raw vibranium in your system, and it is a slow process to extract it. The more you struggle, the quicker it will spread and poison you.”

  
He smirked. “Well isn’t that good news for you,  _Princess_?”

 

_Princess_.

  
Unbelievable. This man had vibranium poisoning and still mocked her.

  
She stepped away from him, eyes narrowed. Any guilt she felt just a moment ago vanished. 

  


“It is my job to follow the King's orders, and I'll be damned if I fail at it. Even if it means keeping a monster like you alive.”

  


 


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Hello Hello!!! Here it is, the next chapter in this fiction. Just an fyi, I will not be posting for a while (going on vacation, yay!) but I will have the next chapter done at least by the end of the month. Hopefully.
> 
> As always comments and feedback are appreciated!

Vibranium, despite its indestructibility and uses, is a double-edged sword. Any slight change to the molecular structure of it could easily make it the most potent poison or the most powerful defense. That’s why when it came to the future of Wakandan infrastructure and advancement as well as the black panther suit, she was given full reign to re-purpose and incorporate the metal in new ways.

It was the source of her pride and confidence. She was first a scientist before anything else. But despite the support and resources that her father and brother gave her to support her passion, her intelligence and passion inadvertently became the source of her loneliness and frustration.

_No one got it. Or they only pretended to so she’d shut up. Either way, it irritated her._

  
But one day, the realization had hit her as she tinkered with vibranium-induced brain wave manipulation for Sergeant Barnes.

 

_Killmonger got into her lab. He bypassed her security protocols, her password and—_

  
She stood up in disbelief.

  


_He got the suit to work._

  
Something possessed her to abandon her experiment and notes as she strode over to the hover bed where he rested.

  
She reached out to wake him but his eyes opened to face her before she could.

  


She pulled her hand back.

  


“You’re awake.“

  


He looked at her as if she’d said the most idiotic thing he’d ever heard.

  


“You have me trapped—”

  


“You are not trapped, you are being healed—”

  


“You say that same shit, and yet I still can’t move—”

“I told you, vibranium poisoning is hard to eradicate when you don’t rest! The more you resist, the harder it is for my machine to work efficiently.”

  


His eyes narrowed, but she stood her ground.

  


“You need sleep.”

  


He let out a hollow laugh.

  


“Nah. I know a trap when I see one. This is enemy territory and as far as I’m concerned, you’ll kill me sooner or later.”

  


Her eyes narrowed to mirror his own.

  


“That’s ridiculous. Why would we heal you just to kill you?”

  


He smirked. “There’s more than one way to kill a man, Princess.”

  


She nearly popped a blood vessel. Her patience hit a dead end and she had no interest in speaking with a man who did not listen. His success in gaining access to her designs was just a stroke of luck as far as she was concerned.

  


“Then I hope the vibranium does its job. Saves me the trouble.”

  


She turned and swiftly walked back to her work, without a glance back.

* * *

 

_The glamor of traveling to America was quickly lost on her as soon as they landed right outside a shabby basketball court in front of what looked to be apartment buildings._

 

_Shuri turned to her brother._

“ _When you said you would take me to California for the first time, I thought you meant Coachella or Disneyland.”_

 

_He looked back at her before turning to the building._

 

“ _This is where our father killed our uncle.”_

  
_She didn’t know how to respond to that. After all that she’d been through in the past 7 months—her father’s death, T’challa’s coronation, and Killmonger’s untimely entry into Wakanda and into their lives—she still had not come to terms with the haunting actions of her father. Maybe that is what Killmonger—no –Erik saw every time he saw T’challa or her. Living proof of the injustice done to him. It was a truth that she had to face sooner or later. At least she had that choice._

  
_Killmonger faced it every day._

  
_Shuri turned the focus back to the building instead. “They are tearing it down. Good.”_

 

_She’d really wanted to believe that. Even with all her genius, her logic and her reasoning, she still clung to far-fetched belief that erasing a place could erase the memories lodged within its walls._

 

_But T’challa, once again, did something she’d never expected._

 

_Erik’s home was to be the first international Wakandan outreach center._

  
“ _And you will be leading the science and technology division.”_

  
_At first, she was elated. Finally, the chance to interact with more people. And maybe, perhaps, a chance to meet someone who could see the world as she does. Someone who could appreciate the intricacies of her designs, of how her mind worked. Someone who would be her equal in science._

  
_But that thought was quickly brushed aside as her mind flashed back to the memory of Erik wearing the suit—her suit and towering over her. A nagging voice inside her began to break through the joy._

  
‘ _He hacked your lab. And your designs. Without your help, he figured how to--’_

  
_She shook her head in an attempt to flush out her thoughts._

 

“ _Shuri?”_ _T_ _’challa’s voice brought her back to reality._

  
“ _I was already planning the next five years”, she said with a smile. “What did you say?”_

  
_T’challa looked at her skeptically before turning back to the apartment._

  
“ _I wish for our cousin to be a part of it as well.”_

  
_Well, fuck._

  
  



End file.
